The White House New Coronavirus Outbreak Response Team announced Friday (April 16) a $1.7 billion investment to help federal, state and local health departments identify emerging viral threats, such as the new coronavirus variants that are currently driving a surge in infections.
At a Web video press conference held by the team, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky said the CDC’s latest data from three weeks ago show that the B-117 variant originally identified in the United Kingdom accounts for 44 percent of the new coronavirus prevalent in the United States.
Walensky expects that number to now be closer to 50 percent. Valensky added that the new variant has a 50 to 70 percent increase in transmission capacity over the initial strain, which may be a major reason for the surge in new cases.
The latest data show that the average daily growth rate of new cases per week again exceeded 8 percent this week, reaching nearly 70,000 cases, Varensky said. Just four weeks ago, she said, the average number of new cases per day was about 50,000, which is even more significant given that.
The new funding from the Biden administration, through a relief package signed into law last month, will help the CDC and regional health departments monitor, track and defeat virus variants and other emerging threats, Wolenski said. She added that the investment will allow the CDC to provide equipment and training to conduct a national genome sequencing effort to help end the threat of new coronaviruses and prevent future pandemics.
Varensky also said the CDC’s independent Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices has recommended that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine remain “suspended” for at least another week while the committee considers possible additional cases and completes an evaluation of the vaccination.
Earlier this week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) jointly recommended a suspension of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine after six rare cases of blood clots following Johnson & Johnson vaccination were identified in the U.S. All six patients were women.
The advisory committee will meet again on April 23 to make further recommendations, Walensky said.
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